James Gendron

SHADE

Where are you tonight, my personal party?You’re like a can of beer shining behind a waterfall.Shadows, harder than the buildings

they emanate from, lean on your tits.Only the weight of your clothingis keeping you in this world.

I swear: when you leave me alone,every part of my bodyis having its own nightmare.

But the night can become mysticalif you ask it to. Might you likea mystical night?

When you see the starsand everything, do you thinkhow important we are?

James Gendron is the author of the chapbook Money Poems (Poor Claudia, 2010) and the full-length collection Sexual Boat (Sex Boats) (Octopus Books, 2013). He was born in Portland, Maine, and lives in Portland, Oregon.